Alignment and optimization of a synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator for nonlinear optical generation

ABSTRACT

A synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO) comprises a nonlinear optical medium positioned in an optical resonator (e.g., a ring resonator) and is pumped by a pump laser source. A first arrangement includes a positioning mechanism for translating the nonlinear optical medium so OPO resonant modes propagate through one of multiple longitudinal regions arranged for differing odd orders of quasi-phase-matching. A second arrangement includes a pump fiber laser oscillator stretched to adjust its repetition rate to match that of the OPO. A third arrangement includes a time-domain-multiplexer (TDM) fiber loop between a pump fiber laser oscillator and fiber laser amplification stage(s). The TDM loop increases the pump repetition rate to enable increased average pump power without increased peak power.

BENEFIT CLAIMS TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. non-provisional applicationSer. No. 12/830,287 entitled “Alignment and optimization of asynchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator for nonlinear opticalgeneration” filed Jul. 3, 2010 in the names of Vladimir G. Kozlov andWalter C. Hurlbut, said application being hereby incorporated byreference as if fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND

The field of the present invention relates to synchronously pumpedoptical parametric oscillators. In particular, apparatus and methods aredisclosed herein for alignment and optimization of a synchronouslypumped optical parametric oscillator for nonlinear optical generation.

A wide variety of optical parametric oscillators (OPO's) have beendescribed previously, as well as schemes for nonlinear opticalgeneration that employ OPO's. Some of these are described in:

-   U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,806 entitled “Broadly tunable high repetition    rate femtosecond optical parametric oscillator” issued May 21, 1991    to Edelstein et al;-   U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,698 entitled “Dispersion compensation for    ultrashort pulse generation in tunable lasers” issued May 18, 1993    to Kafka et al;-   U.S. Pat. No. 5,365,366 entitled “Synchronously pumped    sub-picosecond optical parametric oscillator” issued Nov. 15, 1994    to Kafka et al;-   U.S. Pat. No. 5,371,752 entitled “Optical parametric oscillation    using KTA nonlinear crystals” issued Dec. 6, 1994 to Powers et al;-   U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,043 entitled “Ti:sapphire-pumped high repetition    rate femtosecond optical parametric oscillator” issued Dec. 27, 1994    to Pelouch et al;-   U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,408 entitled “Intracavity-doubled tunable    optical parametric oscillator” issued Apr. 11, 1995 to Ellingson et    al;-   U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,861 entitled “Synchronously pumped    sub-picosecond optical parametric oscillator” issued Dec. 8, 1998 to    Kafka et al;-   U.S. Pat. No. 6,282,014 entitled “Cascade optical parametric    oscillator for down-conversion” issued Aug. 28, 2001 to Long et al;-   U.S. Pat. No. 7,272,158 entitled “Highly efficient waveguide pulsed    THz electromagnetic radiation source and group-matched waveguide THz    electromagnetic radiation source” issued Sep. 18, 2007 to Hayes et    al;-   U.S. Pat. No. 7,339,718 entitled “Generation of terahertz radiation    in orientation-patterned semiconductors” issued Mar. 4, 2008 to    Vodopyanov et al;-   U.S. Pat. No. 7,349,609 entitled “Terahertz radiation generation and    methods therefor” issued Mar. 25, 2008 to Vodopyanov et al;-   U.S. Pat. No. 7,616,304 entitled “System and method for providing a    tunable optical parametric oscillator laser system that provides    dual frequency output for non-linear vibrational spectroscopy and    microscopy” issued Nov. 10, 2009 to Gankkhanov et al;-   U.S. Pub. No. US 2008/0037595 entitled “System and method for    providing a tunable optical parametric oscillator laser system that    provides dual frequency output for non-linear vibrational    spectroscopy and microscopy” published Feb. 14, 2008 in the names of    Gankkhanov et al;-   Pub. No. WO 2007/132229 entitled “Optical parametric oscillator”    published Nov. 22, 2007 in the names of Ebrahim-Zadeh et al;-   Pub. No. WO 2008/135257 entitled “Method and optical arrangement for    generating a nonlinear optical signal on a material which is excited    by an excitation field, and use of the method and of the optical    arrangement” published Nov. 13, 2008 in the names of Rimke et al;-   Kieu et al; “High-power picoseconds fiber source for coherent Raman    spectroscopy”; Optics Letters vol 34 p 2051 (2009);-   Saar et al; “Intracavity wavelength modulation of an optical    parametric oscillator for coherent Raman microscopy”; Optics Express    vol 17 p 12532 (2009);-   Schaar et al; “Intracavity terahertz-wave generation in a    synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator using    quasi-phase-matched GaAs”; Optics Letters vol 32 p 1284 (2007);-   Lee et al; “Generation of multicycle terahertz pulses via optical    rectification in periodically inverted GaAs structures”; Applied    Physics Letters vol 89 p 181104 (2006);-   Vodopyanov et al; “Resonantly-enhanced THz-wave generation via    multispectral mixing inside a ring-cavity optical parametric    oscillator”; Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics/International    Quantum Electronics Conference, OSA Technical Digest (Optical    Society of America, 2009), CLEO paper CTuG1;-   Kokabee et al; “Efficient, high-power, 16-GHz, picosecond optical    parametric oscillator pumped by an 81-MHz fiber laser”; Conference    on Lasers and Electro-Optics/International Quantum Electronics    Conference, OSA Technical Digest (Optical Society of America, 2010),    CLEO paper CThP2; and-   Hurlbut et al; “THz-wave generation inside a high-finesse    ring-cavity OPO pumped by a fiber laser”; Conference on Lasers and    Electro-Optics/International Quantum Electronics Conference, OSA    Technical Digest (Optical Society of America, 2010), CLEO paper    CWF3.

SUMMARY

A synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator (OPO) comprises anonlinear optical medium positioned in an optical resonator and ispumped by a pump laser source. A first arrangement includes apositioning mechanism for translating the nonlinear optical medium sothe OPO resonant optical modes propagate through one of multiplelongitudinal regions arranged for differing odd orders ofquasi-phase-matching. A second arrangement includes a pump source fiberlaser oscillator arranged to be stretched to adjust its repetition rateto match that of the OPO. A third arrangement includes atime-domain-multiplexer (TDM) fiber loop between a pump source fiberlaser oscillator and one or more fiber laser amplification stages. TheTDM loop increases the pump laser source repetition rate to enableincreased average pump power without commensurately increased peakpower.

Objects and advantages pertaining to optical parametric oscillators ornonlinear optical generation may become apparent upon referring to theexemplary embodiments illustrated in the drawings and disclosed in thefollowing written description or appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates schematically an example of a general arrangement ofsynchronously pumped optical parametric oscillators.

FIG. 2 illustrates temporal and spectral profiles produced by adispersion compensator.

FIG. 3 illustrates schematically an example of another generalarrangement of synchronously pumped optical parametric oscillators.

FIG. 4 illustrates schematically an exemplary embodiment of asynchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate schematically an exemplary nonlinear opticalmedium suitable for use in the embodiment of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 illustrates schematically another exemplary embodiment of asynchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator.

FIG. 7 illustrates schematically another exemplary embodiment of asynchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator.

FIG. 8 illustrates schematically another exemplary embodiment of asynchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate spectral broadening of an amplified fiberlaser.

FIG. 10 illustrates schematically another exemplary embodiment of asynchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator.

FIG. 11 illustrates schematically another exemplary embodiment of asynchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator.

FIG. 12 illustrates schematically another exemplary embodiment of asynchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator.

FIG. 13 illustrates schematically another exemplary embodiment of asynchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator.

FIG. 14 illustrates schematically another exemplary embodiment of asynchronously pumped optical parametric oscillator.

The embodiments shown in the Figures are exemplary, and should not beconstrued as limiting the scope of the present disclosure or appendedclaims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

A basic ring optical resonator arrangement of a synchronously pumpedoptical parametric oscillator (OPO) is illustrated schematically inFIG. 1. The OPO 100 is pumped by a pump laser source 102 that produces atrain of pump pulses at a pump wavelength λ_(pump). The pump pulse traincan be at least partly characterized by average power P_(pump), pulseduration τ_(pump), spectral bandwidth Δν_(pump), and a pulse repetitionrate R_(pump) (≡1/T_(pump), where T_(pump) is the time interval betweensuccessive pump pulses and is typically equal to a cavity round triptime for a pump laser source oscillator). The pump pulse train can befurther characterized by a more detailed relationship between wavelength(within the pump spectral profile) and time delay (within the pump pulsetemporal profile). An example of such a spectral-temporal profile isillustrated schematically in FIG. 2.

The synchronously pumped OPO 100 is shown in the example of FIG. 1arranged as a ring optical resonator defined by two or more mirrors 104(four mirrors are shown in the schematic example of FIG. 1; any suitablenumber of mirrors can be employed, with one or more reflections fromeach mirror, as needed or desired). The ring optical resonator isarranged to support one or more resonant optical modes 108 at a signalwavelength λ_(sig) or an idler wavelength λ_(idler). If the resonatorsupports one or more optical modes 108 at only one or the other of thesignal or idler wavelengths, it is considered singly resonant; if theresonator supports one or more optical modes 108 at both signal andidler wavelengths, it is considered doubly resonant. A nonlinear opticalmedium 106 is positioned within the resonator and arranged to provideoptical parametric gain at the signal and idler wavelengths whenoptically pumped at the pump wavelength, with1/λ_(pump)=1/λ_(sig)+1/λ_(idler). A wide variety of arrangements of thenonlinear optical medium can be employed, and usually include some sortof arrangement or adaptation for phase matching or quasi-phase-matchingof the pump, signal, and idler radiation. The resonator and nonlinearoptical medium 106 are often arranged so that the resonant optical modes108 go through a beam waist in the medium 106. At least one of themirrors 104 transmits a substantial fraction of pump radiation atλ_(pump), which is typically delivered as an optical beam 110propagating through a beam waist within the medium 106. The phasematching or quasi-phase-matching conditions, along with the pump beampropagation direction, usually determine λ_(sig) and λ_(idler), as wellas a direction of unidirectional propagation of the signal and idlerradiation. If phase matching or quasi-phase-matching conditions do notsufficiently restrict the signal and idler wavelengths, an additionalwavelength-selective element can be incorporated into the OPO 100 (e.g.,a Lyot filter or an etalon; not shown).

Pump radiation propagating through the nonlinear optical medium 106provides optical parametric gain at the signal and idler wavelengths,and if that gain is above an oscillation threshold for the resonator,steady-state oscillation will occur in the supported signal or idlerresonant modes. When the pump radiation is delivered in the form of atrain of optical pulses, sufficient gain typically is produced when acavity round trip time of the resonator T_(res) is substantially equalto T_(pump) (≡1/R_(pump)). This condition is referred to as synchronouspumping. Such synchronous pumping is advantageous because the train ofpump pulses generates higher peak pump power (and thereforeproportionately higher parametric gain) in the nonlinear optical mediumthan the same average power delivered at a constant power level. Forexample, the enhancement of peak pump power is on the order of 10³ for10 ps pulses delivered at a 100 MHz repetition rate (i.e., τ_(pump)=10ps and T_(pump)=10 ns). Proper operation of the OPO 100 thereforerequires substantial matching of the ring resonator repetition rate(equivalently, cavity length) to the pump pulse repetition rate. Suchmatching can be achieved by passive alignment and adjustment of the pumplaser source or OPO (e.g., construction of the OPO using stable mountinghardware on a length-stable platform and manual adjustment of the OPOcavity length to match the pump pulse repetition rate), or can bemaintained by active-feedback control and adjustment of the pump lasersource or OPO (e.g., piezoelectric control of the cavity length of theOPO or pump laser oscillator in response to an electrical error signalgenerated by pump/OPO cavity length mismatch).

Synchronous pumping can also be achieved when the pump laser sourceround trip time T_(pump) is a multiple or submultiple of the OPOresonator cavity round trip time. Sufficient parametric gain is providedwhen the resonating intracavity signal and idler pulses arrive at thenonlinear optical medium when a pump pulse is present in the medium.This can occur when the cavity round trip times are substantiallymatched (as described above), or when one is an integer multiple (×2,×3, etc), an integer submultiple (÷2, ÷3, etc), or a rational multiple(×n/m where n and m are integers) of the other.

The wavelength λ_(out) of the output radiation of the OPO 100 can be oneor both of the signal wavelength λ_(sig) or the idler wavelengthλ_(idler) (illustrated schematically in FIG. 1). A least one mirror 104can partially transmit the desired output wavelength(s), though which anoutput beam 120 propagates. Instead, or in addition, a second nonlinearmedium 112 can be positioned within the optical resonator (illustratedschematically in FIG. 3), typically positioned at a second beam waist ofthe resonant optical modes 108. That second nonlinear optical medium 112can be arranged to generate output radiation by any of a variety ofnonlinear optical processes, including but not limited to: secondharmonic generation of the signal or idler; sum frequency generation ofthe signal or idler with the pump; or difference frequency generationbetween the signal and idler. That latter process, namely, differencefrequency generation, can be employed to generate output radiation,e.g., in the terahertz (THz) frequency range. Whatever nonlinear opticalprocess is employed, the arrangement of the second nonlinear opticalmedium typically includes appropriate phase matching orquasi-phase-matching. The output radiation can be transmitted throughone of the mirrors 104 (e.g., output beam 130 in the example of FIG. 3),or can be directed out of the OPO by an intracavity output mirror (e.g.,output beam 630 in the example of FIG. 6).

A variety of novel arrangements, and novel alignment or optimizationtechniques, are disclosed herein for a synchronously pumped opticalparametric oscillator. The examples disclosed employ a pump laser sourcethat includes a continuous-wave (cw) modelocked fiber laser oscillator,and typically also includes at least one fiber laser amplificationstage. Some of the disclosed pump laser sources operate with λ_(pump)between about 1.0 μm and about 1.1 μm. Some of the disclosed examples ofOPO's are arranged as synchronously pumped ring cavities, employquasi-phase-matched (QPM) nonlinear optical media and Type 0 phasematching, and operate with λ_(sig) and λ_(idler) between about 1.9 μmand about 2.4 μm. However, the arrangements and techniques disclosedherein can be employed using other types of pump laser sources (e.g.,solid state laser sources, frequency-doubled laser sources, ornon-modelocked laser sources), using pump laser sources operating atother pump wavelengths, using other types of OPO's (e.g., arranged witha linear cavity, or not synchronously pumped), using other types ofnonlinear optical media or phase matching (e.g., single crystal,angle-tuned critical phase-matched or temperature tuned non-criticallyphase-matched, Type I or II, etc.), or operating over differing signaland idler wavelength ranges. The arrangements and techniques disclosedherein shall not be limited to the examples shown, but can be employed(to the extent they are applicable) to other types of OPO's as well.

It has been observed that in many instances OPO's exhibit improvedperformance characteristics (e.g., improved power or spectral stability;reduced output spectral bandwidth or time-bandwidth product; narrowedgain spectral profile; improved spatial profile) when operated with theoptical parametric gain closer to a threshold level (e.g., withparametric gain less than about 5× the threshold gain). However, suchoperation makes initial alignment and optimization of the OPO quitedifficult. It has been recognized as desirable to enable initialalignment and optimization while operating the OPO with the parametricgain well above threshold, and then to reduce the parametric gain forfurther optimization and operation of the OPO. An exemplary arrangementfor achieving that result is illustrated schematically in FIG. 4.

In the example of FIG. 4, an OPO 400 comprises mirrors 404 and anonlinear optical medium 406 and supports one or more resonant opticalmodes 408. The OPO 400 is pumped by a pump laser source 402 thatdelivers a pump beam 410 through one of the OPO mirrors 404 to thenonlinear medium 406. The example of FIG. 4 does not include a secondnonlinear optical medium for producing output radiation at λ_(out) thatdiffers from λ_(sig) and λ_(idler), but the arrangement of nonlinearoptical medium 406 (described further below) for altering the parametricgain is also applicable in an OPO that includes such a second nonlinearoptical medium.

The nonlinear optical medium 406 comprises a nonlinear optical materialarranged for odd-order, quasi-phase-matched optical parametricconversion of radiation at the pump wavelength into radiation at thesignal and idler wavelengths (using Type 0 phase matching, with parallelpump, signal, and idler polarizations). An exemplary material comprisesperiodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN); other suitable QPM materialcan be employed. The nonlinear optical medium 406 comprises two or moretransversely distinct, longitudinally extending regions 406 a, 406 b,etc (referred to generically or collectively as 406 x) within themedium. These are more clearly shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B. At least one ofthe regions, e.g., 406 a, differs from that of another of the regions,e.g., 406 b, with respect to their respective odd orders ofquasi-phase-matching of the optical parametric conversion. For example,region 406 a might be arranged for 1^(st) order QPM of the desired pump,signal, and idler wavelengths, while region 406 b might be arranged for3^(rd) order QPM of those wavelengths. A positioning mechanism 420 isarranged to translate the nonlinear optical medium 406 in a transversedirection relative to a longitudinal direction of propagation of theresonant optical modes 408 through the nonlinear optical medium 406. Thepositioning mechanism 420 is arranged to translate the nonlinear opticalmedium 406 so that the resonant optical modes 408 propagate through anychosen one (e.g., region 406 a, 406 b, 406 c, . . . ) among two or moreof the regions 406 x. The positioning mechanism can comprise anysuitable translator, translation stage, moveable platform, or actuator(any of which can be manual, mechanized, or automated), or otherhardware or software suitable for moving the nonlinear medium 406 asdescribed. If the regions 406 x are transversely arranged in a singleline relative to one another (as in the examples of FIGS. 4, 5A, and5B), then a single axis of transverse motion (substantially parallel tothe row of regions 406 x) is sufficient. If the regions 406 x arearranged in two transverse dimensions (not shown), then two-dimensionaltransverse motion of the medium 406 can be employed to enable any one ofthose regions 406 x to be positioned so that the optical modes 408 wouldpropagate through it.

Transverse movement of the nonlinear optical medium 406, and thediffering QPM orders of the regions 406 x, enable the optical parametricgain of the OPO to be altered without altering the alignment of the OPOor the power delivered via pump beam 410. In an exemplary method,initial alignment and optimization of the OPO 400 is performed with thenonlinear medium 406 positioned so that the optical modes 408 propagatethrough the region having the lowest QPM order (e.g., region 406 aarranged for 1^(st) order QPM). The optical parametric gain of a givenQPM optical medium scales approximately as 1/N² (where N is an odd QPMorder; even QPM orders produce negligible parametric gain) so that theregion with the lowest QPM order exhibits the highest parametric gain.This enables the OPO to be more readily aligned to establish oscillationof the signal or idler (or both, if OPO 400 is doubly resonant). Onceoscillation is established, the OPO can be further optimized (e.g., byangular adjustment of the mirrors 404, by adjustment of the cavitylength to substantially match T_(pump), by adjusting focusing propertiesof modes 408 or pump beam 410, and so on; such adjustments are typicallymade iteratively) to achieve a first desired level of optical parametricconversion from the pump wavelength to the signal and idler wavelengths.The desired level of parametric conversion can be based on an absolutelevel of optical power generated at the signal or idler wavelength, oron the conversion efficiency from pump to signal and idler, and can be aspecific level (e.g., 100 mW of idler, or 30% conversion of pump power)or can be a maximum attained under the given conditions.

With the optical modes 408 propagating through region 406 a with thelowest odd QPM order, the OPO operates at the maximum availableparametric gain, i.e., as far above threshold as possible for thatparticular combination of OPO arrangement and nonlinear optical medium.As noted above, however, operating OPO 400 far above threshold(e.g., >5× threshold) is not necessarily optimal or even desirable, forany of a variety of reasons given above. Therefore, after the OPO 400 isoptimized to the desired degree with the optical modes 408 propagatingthrough region 406 a, the nonlinear optical medium can be translated(using positioning mechanism 420) to another region that has a higherQPM order than region 406 a (e.g., region 406 b arranged for 3^(rd)order QPM). The optical parametric gain provided by nonlinear opticalmedium 406 is thereby reduced and the OPO 400 can operate closer tothreshold. The alignment and optimization established with the OPO 400operating farther above threshold is substantially undisturbed bytranslation of the medium 406. Further optimization of the OPO 400 canbe performed with the reduced parametric gain provided by region 406 bwithout the need for initially establishing oscillation (which becomessignificantly more difficult with decreasing parametric gain). Thisstepwise alignment and optimization process can be repeated foradditional regions 406 c, 406 d, and so on having successively higherQPM orders. Once optimized (in any of the ways described above) withmodes 408 propagating through one of the regions 406 x, the nonlinearmedium 406 can be translated so that the modes 408 propagate throughanother of the regions 406 x that has a higher QPM order, where furtheralignment and optimization can be performed.

A test system was constructed and characterized as shown in FIG. 6. Thefollowing are exemplary only and should not be regarded as limiting thescope of the present disclosure or appended claims. The pump lasersource 602 comprised a Fianium FP1060-10-CST fiber laser operating atλ_(pump)=1063.5 nm with P_(pump)=10 W, τ_(pump)≈10 ps, R_(pump)=109.3MHz (T_(pump)=9.149 ns), and Δν_(pump)≈0.5 nm. The pump beam 610 wasfocused to a beam waist of about 50 μm in the nonlinear optical medium606, which comprised a crystal of periodically poled lithium niobate(PPLN). The crystal was 10 mm long, 7.4 mm wide, and 1 mm thick, andincluded four regions that extended longitudinally through the length ofthe crystal, were arranged across the width of the crystal, were each 1mm wide, and were poled with periods of 31.78, 95.34, 158.90, and 222.46μm, respectively (1^(st) through 7^(th) odd QPM orders for opticalparametric conversion of 1.06 μm pump to signal and idler between about2.0 and 2.3 μm with all polarizations parallel, i.e., Type 0 phasematching). The entrance and exit faces were AR coated for 1064 nm andfor 2040-2230 nm. The OPO 600 comprised six mirrors M1-M6: mirrors M1and M2 were spherical with a radius of 200 mm; M4 and M5 were sphericalwith a radius of 500 mm; M3 and M6 (mounted on a piezoelectric dithererfor cavity length tuning or enhanced terahertz generation) were flat.All mirrors were highly reflective from 1900-2400 nm, and M1 and M2transmitted over 99% at 1064 nm (to transmit pump beam 610). The OPOresonator 600 was arranged to support modes 608 that exhibit a beamwaist of about 70 μm in the nonlinear medium 606 between M1 and M2 and asecond beam waist of about 250 μm between M4 and M5.

A QPM stack 612 of eleven optically contacted GaAs plates arranged togenerate radiation at about 1.5 THz by difference frequency generation(also referred to as frequency down-conversion) of the signal and idlerradiation were positioned at the beam waist between M4 and M5. Thedoubly resonant OPO cavity included a thin etalon 614 that results inspectral peaks spaced by the desired 1.5 terahertz output frequency, asdescribed by Vodopyanov et al (CLEO 2009, cited above). The OPO isoperated near its degeneracy point (i.e., λ_(sig)≈λ_(idler)), which, inconjunction with Type 0 phase matching, results in oscillation ofmultiple spectral lines and blurring of the distinction between signaland idler. The spacing by the etalon of the spectral peaks of theoscillating signal and idler radiation by the desired terahertzfrequency enhances the overall efficiency of the terahertz generation.Overall round trip loss is about 2.2% for the signal and idler.

With the optical modes 608 propagating through the 1^(st) order QPMregion (31.78 μm poling period), oscillation thresholds between about 10mW and about 25 mW of pump power were observed, depending on the beamquality of the pump source and singly versus doubly resonant OPOoperation. At 9.5 W of pump power, about 3.28 W of pump power wasconsumed (35% pump depletion) to produce about 149 W of circulatingintracavity power (signal plus idler, estimated by measuring powerleakage through one of the cavity mirrors).

After optimizing the resonator alignment near threshold, the nonlinearoptical medium 606 was then translated so that the optical modes 608propagated through the 3^(rd) order QPM region (95.34 μm poling period).About 250 W of circulating optical power was observed when pumped at 9.5W, with about 5.5 W of pump power consumed (58% pump depletion).Threshold pump power was 2.3 W.

After again optimizing the resonator alignment near threshold (with themodes 608 propagating through the 3^(rd) order QPM region), thenonlinear optical medium 606 was then translated so that the opticalmodes 608 propagated through the 5^(th) order QPM region (158.90 μmpoling period). About 220 W of circulating optical power was observedwhen pumped at 9.5 W, with about 4.9 W of pump power consumed (51% pumpdepletion). Threshold pump power was 3.7 W.

After again optimizing the resonator alignment near threshold (with themodes 608 propagating through the 5^(th) order QPM region), thenonlinear optical medium 606 was then translated so that the opticalmodes 608 propagated through the 7^(th) order QPM region (222.46 μmpoling period). About 149 W of circulating optical power was observedwhen pumped at 9.5 W, with about 3.28 W of pump power consumed (35% pumpdepletion). Threshold pump power was 4.15 W.

It was noted that the OPO resonator 600 became progressively moresensitive to alignment changes with increasing QPM order. At 5^(th) and7^(th) orders, in particular, it became difficult to optimize the OPOdue to mechanical limitations of the optical mounts employed andsensitivity limitations of manual adjustment of those mounts. It ispossible that higher intracavity power and lower threshold could beachieved with more precise and sensitive optical mounts.

In the examples disclosed, the odd QPM orders of the regions of thenonlinear optical medium 406 or 606 include consecutive odd ordersbeginning with the first order (e.g., 1^(st), 3^(rd), 5^(th), and 7^(th)orders for nonlinear optical medium 606), and those regions are arrangedacross the width of the medium in order of their respective QPM orders.This need not be the case, however, and any suitable set of odd orders,arranged in any spatial order or arrangement, can be employed within thescope of the present disclosure or appended claims.

Another arrangement for optimizing operation of a synchronously pumpedOPO is illustrated schematically in FIG. 7. As noted above,substantially matching the repetition rates of the pump laser source andthe OPO resonator (or integer multiples, integer submultiples, orrational multiples thereof) is desirable for optimizing the parametricgain available in the OPO. A need for adjusting the pump laser source orthe OPO resonator to match their repetition rates can arise, e.g., fromlength instabilities in either or both of the pump source or OPO(mechanical or, more likely, thermal), or from substituting a non-linearoptical medium or other transmissive element of the OPO resonator forone of a differing optical pathlength (due to differing physical lengthor differing refractive index). Such cavity length matching isconventionally achieved by mounting at least one mirror of the OPO on alinear translator. Movement of the mirror alters the physical length ofthe OPO cavity and thereby also alters its repetition rate. Such cavitylength adjustment can be decoupled from overall resonator cavityalignment by translating a normal-incidence end mirror of a linearresonator cavity. However, the mirrors of a ring resonator cavity arearranged at non-normal incidence, thereby coupling translation of itsmirrors to overall cavity alignment. That issue can be mitigated byinstead adjusting the repetition rate of the pump laser source to matcha substantially fixed cavity length of the OPO resonator cavity. Suchadjustment of the pump laser repetition rate is straightforward if thepump laser source includes a linear oscillator that has a translatingend mirror (as described above for a linear OPO resonator).

However, various embodiments disclosed herein comprise a pump lasersource that includes a fiber laser oscillator. A fiber laser oscillatordoes not employ cavity end mirrors, but instead includes gratingreflectors imparted into the fiber itself. The length of the fiberbetween the grating reflector determines the pump repetition rate;translation of a cavity mirror cannot be employed for adjusting the pumprepetition rate. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated schematicallyin FIG. 7, the pump laser source 702 comprises a fiber laser oscillator730, and can optionally include one or more additional laseramplification stages 740 and 742 (preferably based on fiber laser media,but optionally based on other laser gain media of any suitable type,e.g., solid state, semiconductor, etc.). Such a combination ofoscillator and amplifier is often referred to as a MOPA (an acronym forMaster Oscillator Power Amplifier). In the example of FIG. 7, the fiberlaser oscillator includes an intermediate segment 732 between its fibergrating reflectors that is arranged to be stretched to a controlled,variable degree by a mechanical actuator 734. Stretching theintermediate segment 732 alters the overall length of the fiber laseroscillator 730, thereby altering its repetition rate commensurately. Theactuator 734 can comprise any suitable manual, mechanized, or automatedactuator, and can be arranged with the intermediate segment 732 in anysuitable way to enable controlled, variable stretching of the segment732. In one exemplary embodiment, the actuator 734 comprises apiezoelectric mandrel and the intermediate segment 732 forms one or moreloops around the mandrel. Applying a variable control voltage to themandrel causes it to expand transversely to a variable extent, therebystretching the looped intermediate segment 732 to a variable extent.However the actuator 734 and intermediate segment 732 are arranged, thestretching of the intermediate segment 732 to match the pump repetitionrate to the OPO repetition rate can be performed manually when needed ordesired, or the actuator can be controlled via a feedback controller inresponse to an electrical error signal generated by pump/OPO repetitionrate mismatch. Upon initial arrangement and alignment of the OPO 700,the OPO cavity can first be arranged so that its repetition rate roughlymatches the pump laser source oscillator repetition rate, and then theactuator 734 can be employed to more precisely match the repetitionrates (manually or using automated feedback control). If the OPOresonator repetition rate is later altered (e.g., by substituting anonlinear medium of a differing length), the actuator can be employed tomatch the pump repetition rate to the altered OPO repetition rate(manually or using automated feedback control as is known in the art).

Another arrangement for optimizing operation of a synchronously pumpedOPO is illustrated schematically in FIG. 8. To obtain increased outputpower from the synchronously pumped OPO, one can increase the pumppower. However, it has already been noted that operating the OPO too farabove threshold (e.g., >5× threshold) can lead to undesirable operatingcharacteristics of the OPO due to increased nonlinear optical effects.In addition, properties of the pump laser source can be altered inpotentially undesirable ways when the pump pulse train is amplified tohigher average and peak power. As shown in the examples of FIGS. 9A and9B, amplification of the pump laser master oscillator output from 10 mWaverage power to 20 W average power results in significant spectral andtemporal broadening due to self-phase modulation (a nonlinear opticaleffect) and group velocity dispersion in a pump laser fiber amplifier.

The average power of the pump laser source can be increased without alsoincreasing peak power using the arrangement illustrated schematically inFIG. 8. A time-domain-multiplexer (TDM) fiber loop 832 is insertedbetween the pump laser master oscillator 830 and amplification stages840 and 842 of the pump laser source 802. The TDM fiber loop 832 isarranged to divide a train of master oscillator optical pulses intomultiple, temporally delayed replica trains of master oscillator opticalpulses, and are known in the art. Depending on the number of replicapulse trains, the pump laser source repetition rate can be increased bya factor of 2, 3, 4, or more. The average power from the amplificationstages 840 and 842 can be increased by the same factor while keeping thepeak pump laser power roughly constant, reducing potentially undesirablenonlinear optical effects in the fiber laser amplification stages.

Optical parametric gain is only present in the nonlinear optical mediumduring the time interval that the pump laser pulse is present in themedium; this is the basis of synchronous pumping as described above. Inone exemplary arrangement, the round trip time of the OPO resonatorcavity is substantially matched to the round trip time of the pump lasersource oscillator 830, while the TDM loop 832 is employed to increasethe repetition rate of the amplified pump laser source by a factor of N.Every Nth pulse of the amplified pump laser pulse train appears at themaster oscillator repetition rate, but the intervening pump pulsesappear at time intervals determined by the TDM loop 832 and do notnecessarily appear at regularly spaced time intervals. Pumping thesynchronously pumped OPO with such a composite pump pulse train resultsin a series of N substantially independent pulse trains resonating inthe synchronously pumped OPO resonator at the signal or idler wavelength(or both if doubly resonant). The effect is to increase the pulserepetition rate and average power output of the OPO (at the signal,idler, or other output wavelength) by a factor of N withoutcommensurately increasing the peak power in the OPO cavity, therebyenabling avoidance of unwanted or undesirable nonlinear optical effectsin the OPO (e.g., operating more than 5× above threshold).

In another exemplary arrangement employing a TDM loop 832 in the pumplaser source, the TDM loop 832 can be arranged to produce pump pulsetrains delayed by an integer submultiple of the pulse repetition time ofthe pump laser master oscillator 830, i.e., the TDM loop is used tocreate replica N pulse trains delayed by 1/N of the cavity round triptime of the pump laser master oscillator 830. The resulting pumprepetition rate and average pump power after amplification are increasedby a factor of N without commensurately increasing the peak pump power(as in the previous example), thereby avoiding potentially unwanted orundesirable nonlinear optical effects in the amplified pump laseroutput. However, the composite pulse train can be used to synchronouslypump an OPO cavity having a cavity round trip time 1/N times that of thepump laser master oscillator 832 (i.e., a repetition rate N times thatof the pump laser master oscillator 832). Both average and peak powerincrease in the OPO, perhaps by as much as a factor of N, or perhapsless if the increased intracavity OPO power results in saturation of theparametric gain due to pump depletion. Such an arrangement enables amore compact arrangement of the OPO optical resonator due to its reducedlength (reduced by a factor of N). Operation of a synchronously pumpedOPO according to this arrangement requires substantial matching of boththe delay time of the TDM loop 832 and the round trip time of the OPOresonator to a submultiple of the repetition time of the pump lasermaster oscillator 832.

Another arrangement for optimizing operation of a synchronously pumpedOPO is illustrated schematically in FIG. 10. It has already been notedthat amplification of a pump laser master oscillator can alter thespectral and temporal properties of the pump laser source throughself-phase modulation (SPM) and group velocity dispersion (GVD) in apump laser fiber amplifier (as in FIGS. 9A and 9B). In FIG. 10, adispersion compensator 1032 is inserted between the amplified pump lasersource 1002 (comprising oscillator 1030 and amplification stages 1040and 1042) and the synchronously pumped OPO 1000. Dispersion compensatorsare conventional and can assume several different forms, e.g., pairs ofprisms, pairs of diffraction gratings, and so on, and are typically usedto achieve a minimum pulse duration for a given optical spectrum thathas been temporally broadened by GVD. Examples of temporal and spectralprofiles produced by a dispersion compensator are shown in FIG. 2.

Another exemplary embodiment of a synchronously pumped OPO isillustrated schematically in the block diagram of FIG. 11. A MOPA 1150(including, e.g., a fiber laser master oscillator and one or more fiberamplifier stages) produces about 10 W of average power at 1064 nm as atrain of 10 ps pulses at about a 100 MHz repetition rate. That outputenters pump pulse compressor 1152 (typically a fiber-gratingcompressor), the output of which is frequency doubled to 532 nm in thesecond harmonic generator 1154. Any suitable nonlinear optical medium,in any suitable phase-matching arrangement, can be employed in thesecond harmonic generator 1154. One suitable medium is lithium triborate(LBO; LiB₃O₅), which can be critically or non-critically phase-matched(i.e., angle-tuned or temperature-tuned) to convert 1064 nm to 532 nm.Depending on the MOPA and compressor output (power and pulse duration),3-5 W of average power at 532 nm can be produced by the second harmonicgenerator 1154, with pulse durations ranging from about 0.2 ps to about10 ps. The output of the MOPA/compressor/SHG 1150/1152/1154 can be usedto synchronously pump an OPO 1100 with λ_(pump)=532 nm. The output ofthe OPO 1100 (signal, idler, harmonics, or difference frequency) can becompressed using another pulse compressor 1160 (e.g., to compensate forgroup velocity dispersion in the OPO resonator or nonlinear mediumtherein). Compressor 1160 can also be referred to as a dispersioncompensator.

Several exemplary OPOs are illustrated schematically in FIGS. 12-14,each pumped at 532 nm by a MOPA/compressor/SHG combination similar tothat depicted in FIG. 11. LBO can be employed as the nonlinear mediumthat provides the parametric gain when pumped by the compressed,frequency-doubled MOPA output. In the example of FIG. 12,MOPA/compressor/SHG 1250/1252/1254 synchronously pumps OPO 1200 at 532nm. The nonlinear medium 1206 can typically comprise non-criticallyphase-matched, single-crystal LBO, and the ring resonator can bearranged similarly to that shown in FIG. 6. In the example of FIG. 12,mirror M6 is arranged to transmit the signal or idler wavelength, whichemerges as output beam 1220. When pumped at 532 nm at about 5 W, OPOoutput can be obtained across a tuning range of about 800-1064 nm(signal) or about 1064-1600 nm (idler), at about 1 W of average power atthe peak of the tuning curve. If desired, a second nonlinear opticalmedium can be employed within the resonator 1200 (not shown; analogousto FIG. 6) to generate harmonics of the signal or idler or thedifference frequency between them. Whichever output is used, anadditional dispersion compensator (i.e., pulse compressor; not shown)can be employed.

In the example of FIG. 13, a simple, two-mirror, linear resonator cavity1300 is employed. Angle-tuned, critically phase-matched LBO is thenonlinear optical medium 1306, which is mounted on a rotation stage1370. The nonlinear medium 1306 is synchronously pumped at 532 nm by theoutput of MOPA/compressor/SHG 1350/1352/1354, which is directed throughmirror M1 and through nonlinear medium 1306 by a series of steeringmirrors and lenses. The lenses can be chosen to yield a desired beamwaist size and confocal parameter for the 532 nm pump beam within thenonlinear medium 1306 (e.g., chosen to achieve a sufficient degree ofspatial mode matching between the pump beam and the signal or idlerbeams). A pump steering mirror and the pump lenses are shown positionedon a translator 1372. Synchronized motion of translator 1372 androtation stage 1370 keep the pump beam properly overlapped with thesignal and idler beams within the OPO resonator 1300 as the nonlinearmedium 1306 rotates, and reduces or eliminates movement of the outputbeam 1320. The output of OPO 1300 emerges through mirror M2 as opticalbeam 1320. An additional dispersion compensator (not shown) can beemployed. The example of FIG. 14 is similar to that of FIG. 13, exceptthat a temperature-tuned, non-critically phase-matched LBO crystal isemployed as the nonlinear optical medium 1406 in OPO resonator 1400. TheLBO crystal is housed within an oven 1470 for temperature tuning.

In any of the examples of FIGS. 12-14, the MOPA can be arranged as shownin FIG. 7 for matching the pump repetition rate to the OPO resonatorrepetition rate, to achieve synchronous pumping. The examples of FIGS.13 and 14 are particularly amenable to high repetition rate operation,because a simple, two-mirror OPO resonator cavity 1300/1400 can bereadily shorted to provide the higher repetition rate. Accordingly, theMOPA 1350 or 1450 can be adapted in a manner similar to that shown inFIG. 8 for providing a high repetition rate pump source (e.g., about 200MHz, 400 MHz, or 800 MHz, instead of about 100 MHz).

It is intended that equivalents of the disclosed exemplary embodimentsand methods shall fall within the scope of the present disclosure orappended claims. It is intended that the disclosed exemplary embodimentsand methods, and equivalents thereof, may be modified while remainingwithin the scope of the present disclosure or appended claims.

In the foregoing Detailed Description, various features may be groupedtogether in several exemplary embodiments for the purpose ofstreamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to beinterpreted as reflecting an intention that any claimed embodimentrequires more features than are expressly recited in the correspondingclaim. Rather, as the appended claims reflect, inventive subject mattermay lie in less than all features of a single disclosed exemplaryembodiment. Thus, the appended claims are hereby incorporated into theDetailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separatedisclosed embodiment. However, the present disclosure shall also beconstrued as implicitly disclosing any embodiment having any suitablecombination of disclosed or claimed features (i.e., combinations offeatures that are not incompatible or mutually exclusive) that appear inthe present disclosure or the appended claims, including thosecombinations of features that may not be explicitly disclosed herein. Itshould be further noted that the scope of the appended claims do notnecessarily encompass the whole of the subject matter disclosed herein.

For purposes of the present disclosure and appended claims, theconjunction “or” is to be construed inclusively (e.g., “a dog or a cat”would be interpreted as “a dog, or a cat, or both”; e.g., “a dog, a cat,or a mouse” would be interpreted as “a dog, or a cat, or a mouse, or anytwo, or all three”), unless: (i) it is explicitly stated otherwise,e.g., by use of “either . . . or”, “only one of . . . ”, or similarlanguage; or (ii) two or more of the listed alternatives are mutuallyexclusive within the particular context, in which case “or” wouldencompass only those combinations involving non-mutually-exclusivealternatives. For purposes of the present disclosure or appended claims,the words “comprising,” “including,” “having,” and variants thereofshall be construed as open ended terminology, with the same meaning asif the phrase “at least” were appended after each instance thereof.

In the appended claims, if the provisions of 35 USC §112 ¶ 6 are desiredto be invoked in an apparatus claim, then the word “means” will appearin that apparatus claim. If those provisions are desired to be invokedin a method claim, the words “a step for” will appear in that methodclaim. Conversely, if the words “means” or “a step for” do not appear ina claim, then the provisions of 35 USC §112 ¶ 6 are not intended to beinvoked for that claim.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: arranging an opticalresonator comprising two or more mirrors to support one or more resonantoptical modes at a signal wavelength or an idler wavelength; positioninga nonlinear optical medium within the resonator, which nonlinear opticalmedium is arranged to provide optical parametric gain at the signal andidler wavelengths when optically pumped at a pump wavelength; opticallypumping the nonlinear optical medium at the pump wavelength using a pumplaser source that includes a modelocked fiber laser master oscillatorand a mechanical actuator arranged to stretch a fiber segment of themaster oscillator; and stretching the master oscillator fiber segmentwith the actuator by an amount required to substantially match a pulserepetition rate of the pump laser source to a repetition rate of theoptical resonator, or to a multiple or submultiple thereof.
 2. Themethod of claim 1 further comprising: replacing a first nonlinearoptical medium within the resonator with a second optical medium, thefirst and second nonlinear optical media differing with respect tooptical pathlength through the medium; and stretching the masteroscillator fiber segment with the actuator by an amount required tosubstantially match a pulse repetition rate of the pump laser source toa repetition rate of the optical resonator with the second nonlinearoptical medium therein, or to a multiple or submultiple thereof, withoutotherwise translating any mirrors of the optical resonator.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the optical resonator comprises a ring opticalresonator.
 4. An apparatus comprising: an optical resonator comprisingtwo or more mirrors arranged to support one or more resonant opticalmodes at a signal wavelength or an idler wavelength; a nonlinear opticalmedium positioned within the resonator, which nonlinear optical mediumis arranged to provide optical parametric gain at the signal and idlerwavelengths when optically pumped at a pump wavelength; and a pump lasersource arranged to optically pump the nonlinear optical medium at thepump wavelength, which pump laser source includes a modelocked fiberlaser master oscillator and a mechanical actuator arranged to stretch afiber segment of the master oscillator, wherein the master oscillatorfiber segment and the actuator are arranged so that the actuatorstretches the master oscillator fiber segment by an amount required tosubstantially match a pulse repetition rate of the pump laser source toa repetition rate of the optical resonator, or to a multiple orsubmultiple thereof.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein: the nonlinearoptical medium is selected from among a first nonlinear optical mediumor a second optical medium, the first and second nonlinear optical mediadiffering with respect to optical pathlength through the medium; themaster oscillator fiber segment and the actuator are arranged so thatthe actuator stretches the master oscillator fiber segment by a firstamount required to substantially match a pulse repetition rate of thepump laser source to a repetition rate of the optical resonator with thefirst nonlinear optical medium therein, or to a multiple or submultiplethereof; and the master oscillator fiber segment and the actuator arearranged so that the actuator stretches the master oscillator fibersegment by a second amount required to substantially match a pulserepetition rate of the pump laser source to a repetition rate of theoptical resonator with the second nonlinear optical medium therein, orto a multiple or submultiple thereof.
 6. The apparatus of claim 4wherein the optical resonator comprises a ring optical resonator.